Chapter 97 You said you liked me the most
It was more distant and complicated moving from Zi Quan Palace to Xuan Qing Palace than that from Xi Xing Building to Zi Quan Hall.
However, they moved faster this time.
The reason was that not only the Empress sent enough manpower to help, but people in the harem offered their help.
Even Yuan Lianniang had been staying in Ning Bi Hall, without any intention of finding fault with her.
“You must have heard of me. I will not tolerate unreasonable and unfair things.” It just took six or seven days that the repaired and cleaned Huan Hua Hall had been completely new. Yun Fenghuang was in light bluish green clothes and with white-jade head ornaments. Although she wore an informal dress, when she looked at those servants who were kneeling down on the ground, they dared not look up at her and just lowered their heads deferentially, “I’m not going to maltreat you if you do things well. If you are double-dealing, I can forgive you, but the palace rules will not show mercy!”
Those servants who had been serving her or were just chosen to serve her shook their heads and promised, “I will faithful in my work and will not let you down, My Lady!”
“Well.” Yun Fenghuang didn’t care whether they said sincerely or not. After all, they just met each other. It was impossible for them to be loyal to her now. “Stand up. Today is my good day. I will share my happiness with you.”
Then Nian Xuan who didn’t follow these servants to kneel on the ground took a lacquer plate, and gave them a small bag with money in it one by one.
Due to her promotion of Jie Yu, the number of people waiting for the service increased suddenly. However, Yun Fenghuang did not mean to readjust the personnel. Eunuchs were still headed by Chen Zhu, and the newly added eunuchs were all arranged by him. Maids were headed by Xi Le. Liu Hong and Nian Xuan were still okay about it, while Xi Jing was a little unconvinced. However, because Xi Le helped her when they started to serve Yun Fenghuang, Xi Jing would be embarrassed to obviously oppose Xi Le.
Xi Jing and Xi Le originally came from Yan Fu Palace and had a closer relationship, now they were seemingly in harmony but actually at variance.
This was what Yun Fenghuang hoped to see. She had no foundation in the Imperial Harem, and she even did not fully trust Nian Xuan who grew up with her. It was not a good thing for her that people serving her were too united.
For example, she asked Chen Zhu to head these eunuchs not only because she was nostalgic, but also because she knew Chen Zhu was young. Not to mention the previous Chen Sheng, there were several people among those eunuchs sent by the Empress who were more experienced than him. Without Yun Fenghuang’s support, he would be insecure in his role.
In this way, for his own benefit, he would try hard to please Yun Fenghuang.
“Now the maids are at odds with each other. As for those eunuchs, Chen Zhu is promoted by me. It is hard to deal with those who have been serving me.” Yun Fenghuang carefully considered the situation of Xuan Qing Palace, and felt relieved for the moment, “Xi Jing is eager to excel but fails to be my first maid. Among these eunuchs, there are several people who want to make progress… In order to go further, they will compete with each other when serving me.”
She was quite satisfied with the start. As for the aim of getting some loyal and credible servants, it was impossible to achieve it in such a short time.
So far, Yun Fenghuang had no ability and plan to stand up to these real bosses as an equal in this palace. Therefore, it was in no hurry for her to find some loyal and credible servants.
“Her Highness allows me and Jie Yu Wei to watch the selection of Cai Nv.” She thought about it, then called Nian Xuan to her side and said to her, “You will then go with me and choose a few healthy and strong ones for me.”
Nian Xuan nodded vigorously, “Yes, My Lady.”
Nian Xuan felt relieved and said, “Fortunately, you have been promoted to Jie Yu now, My Lady.”
When Yun Fenghuang asked her for the prescription of the contraceptive medicine, she didn’t think much about it because she was recovering from an injury on the bed. She later learned that Yun Fenghuang took the medicine, and she almost fainted on the spot. She knew that Yun Fenghuang wanted to adopt a child. Although she still felt sorry, she finally felt a little comforted.
After all, as the hostess of Xuan Qing Palace, if a concubine in Yun Fenghuang’s palace gave birth to an imperial heir, basically the child would be handed over to Yun Fenghuang to raise, which meant that the concubine helped her to bear a child.
In fact, this was also the reason why Empress Ji asked Yun Fenghuang and Wei Hengyan to accept more newcomers, and was unwilling to send more to those who had been serving the Emperor for many years and to those who did not have their hostesses.
These newcomers were originally selected for the purpose of giving birth to more heirs. The principle of selection was to choose girls who were innocent and beautiful while had ability to have children, and especially had ability to have boys.
Perhaps one or two of these newcomers would not get pregnant, but there were many newcomers and some of them would eventually get pregnant.
If the newcomers who got pregnant were in the palaces of Noble Consort Shu and Consort Xin, it would empower them, which did not conform to the interests of the Empress.
If the new comers who got pregnant did not have a hostess, any hostesses would gain custody of children, which was also troublesome.
Even if the Empress had more advantages, her status was special. Unless there was no other way, the Empress would not adopt another person’s child. In this case, Yun Fenghuang, a concubine who was close to the Empress, was needed to adopt another person’s child. Therefore, she could help the Empress and would not make trouble for the Empress in the future.
As for Wei Hengyan, she didn’t find a backer yet. It seemed that the Empress wanted to woo her.
“Ask them not to be lazy and to clean the whole palace thoroughly.” Yun Fenghuang then ordered, “If the newcomers did not live in a comfortable place and are not satisfied and if others knew that, someone would say that I am thoughtless and fail to manage this trivial matter.”
Nian Xuan and Xi Le hurriedly promised that they would urge those servants to work hard, and absolutely would not make Yun Fenghuang lose face.
In fact, Yun Fenghuang didn’t care about it at all, and she even eagerly looked forward to punishing someone as a warning to others when something went wrong… This was all a trivial matter.
She was now worried that the Emperor had not made any trouble since he took over the reins of power. Where should she go in this palace?
When she was thinking about it, Chen Jing came in and told her that the Emperor was here.
“His Majesty ends the morning court just now. Does he directly come to me instead of returning to Tai Chu Palace?” Yun Fenghuang quickly tidied her skirt and went out to meet him. She saw the Emperor wearing a royal diadem with tassels walking down from the imperial carriage.
She walked forward, saluted him, and then asked with a smile, “How can I deserve such a favor, Your Majesty?”
Emperor Chunjia glanced at her without a word, walked into the main palace, sat down and looked around. He sneered, “You pick a good palace.”
Yun Fenghuang said, “Of course. After all, this place is not just where I live. Your Majesty, you also will come over. When these newcomers live in several days later, you will come to this palace more frequently. I can wrong myself, but I cannot wrong you, let alone the people who are waiting for serving you, Your Majesty!”
“You have a reason for everything.” The Emperor was used to her chop logic. When he heard her words, he wanted to sneer at her, but he did not. He asked the servants beside them to leave, and then he said, “At this morning’s meeting, Prince Regent recommended several people to be officials with personal guarantee. Zongzi (the heir of a noble family) of Qi’s Family in the north is also included.”
“Can I know about this kind of event of the Imperial Court?” Yun Fenghuang did not change her expression. She asked curiously, “Your Majesty, did you reject his proposal?”
Emperor Chunjia smiled and said, “If I didn’t tell you, would you be submissive?”
“If I were submissive, would you continue to like me?” Yun Fenghuang grinned, raised her sleeves to cover her lips, and moved her eyes. She said, “As a consort, it is the most important thing to make you happy. I do not care about those judgments from others. I only care about you.”
It seemed that she had sacrificed herself a lot for the Emperor.
The Emperor could not help laughing, “Then do you mean that those virtuous concubines through the ages are wrong?”
“Your Majesty, if you say they are wrong, then they must be wrong.” Yun Fenghuang said cunningly, “If you think they are right, then they must be right! You have the final say for everything, Your Majesty!”
The Emperor said, “What if I hope you be like those virtuous people?”
“I am very virtuous now!” Yun Fenghuang argued, “At most, because I am young and occasionally misunderstand you, I will make something that let you down. However, I always want to help you to share the trouble. I swear I am devoted to you in all sincerity…”
The Emperor stopped her with a grumpy expression, “You swear frequently. I can’t be surprised.”
“That’s right!” Yun Fenghuang said rightfully, “This shows that my loyalty to you has penetrated into all aspects, and you have been used to it…”
“… If you weren’t young, I would beat you.” Emperor Chunjia sighed in silence for a moment, “I have forgotten what I wanted to tell you after hearing your nonsense.”
“No matter what you want to say, it must have something to do with Qi Jiulu.”
Yun Fenghuang thought so, and sat next to him, shook his arm and asked, “By the way, Your Majesty, since Prince Regent has recommended some people to enter the official career, do you have prepared a nice job for my adoptive father?”
Emperor Chunjia turned his head sideways, looked at her, and said, “A nice job?”
“I know what you want to do from the above words.” Emperor Chunjia thought to himself.
“I heard from Duke Yi!” Yun Fenghuang immediately said, “Anyway, we should keep the goodies within the family, right?”
If you thought that these words were execrable, you should sort Duke Yi out.
The Emperor laughed, “No! Your adoptive father is Duke Yi’s sibling. If he had been an able man, he would have been guided and supported by Duke Yi. Since Duke Yi did not support him, he must be talentless… Now I have to handle many issues. If I gave him a job, he would make trouble with me!”
When he noticed that Yun Fenghuang was going to say more, he became serious and said, “I will not allow you to spend a holiday at a summer resort if you continue to say! You just stay in the palace to reflect on yourself, and then I will enjoy a peace and quiet life for a few months.”
The plan of spending a holiday at a summer resort was in progress before the summer banquet. If everything had gone well, most people of the Imperial Court and the Imperial Harem would have reached the Temporary Imperial Palace on the mountain.
The main reason for delaying it was that Empress Dowager was ill and could not be fatigued for a journey.
However, Yun Fenghuang heard that this plan would not be cancelled, and they would spend a holiday at a summer resort as planned. Perhaps because Empress Dowager was already much better, or because Empress Dowager hadn’t recovered. The hot summer weather was more than she could stand.
Therefore, when moving to Xuan Qing Palace, she just opened several boxes. Therefore, it would be more convenient when she left.
At the moment, she curled her lips for a while and then grumbled unwillingly, “Your Majesty, now you can handle ruling affairs personally. While as your favorite consort, I can’t take advantage of anything.”
“Do you feel ashamed for mentioning it?” The Emperor shook his head, thought about it for a while, and then said, “By the way, I need you to stop Minghui from marrying Ji Minggan…”
Yun Fenghuang said with a surprise, “Your Majesty, it is not easy to handle this matter when you haven’t taken over the reins of power before. Now you can handle ruling affairs personally. Do you still need me for such small things?”
The Emperor frowned, “It’s not appropriate for me to mention it because I take over the reins of power… You are smart. Don’t you understand why?”
Of course she understood!
He just took over the reins of power. He was still playing a cautious game with all parties. Just like starting a business, every penny needed to be won and cherished, so he did not want to pay extra for Princess Minghui’s marriage.
“However, I also have made great efforts to get the promotion of Jie Yu.” Yun Fenghuang thought to herself, shrugged, and said, “If I am demoted because I offend Ji’s Family at this time, I will not have a second chance to regain the grade of Jie Yu!”
He wanted to cherish your reputation. Was her reputation unimportant?
Seeing Emperor Chunjia frowned slightly, she smirked on his shoulder and whispered, “However, since you do not want Princess Minghui to marry Ji Minggan, I can help you. But, I can’t do it alone. I need your help…”
At first, the Emperor looked calm. Then gradually blue veins stood out on his forehead. He said, “You… you are really…”
However, after thinking it over and over again, he sighed and said, “Well, for Minghui, I will help you… Do not try to do it for another time in the future!”
“I will, Your Majesty. I have no choice this time.” When Yun Fenghuang heard his words, she immediately massaged his shoulders and arms, and said sweetly, “I have a sense of propriety.”
“…” Emperor rolled his eyes at her and was disinclined to dig up the past. “That’s settled then. If you dare to play tricks, I will select some people from Xie’s Family and ask them to engage in politics!”
What he said wiped the grin off her face. She said, “I am already a daughter of Yun’s Family. Why do you come for Xie’s Family?”
“You said you like me the most.” He sneered. “I like you too. It’s inconvenient for me to award your adoptive father. Is there anything inappropriate that I award Xie’s Family to help you repay parental love? You should thank me immediately and serve me more diligently.”
She felt wronged and she wanted to argue with him but she did not know how to start. Seeing that, Emperor Chunjia felt satisfied. He touched her hair with a smile, and then rubbed it, “Therefore, you should behave yourself, right?”